Top 5 Song Releases This Week: [9/16 – 9/21]

This is a round-up of songs released over the past week that in my opinion are worthy of spotlighting!

San Holo – ‘Surface’

Dutch musician Sander van Dijck, better know as San Holo, released three new songs over the past week in anticipation of his debut album. Following the release of the song ‘forever free (ft. Duskus)’ last Friday, San Holo released ‘surface (ft. Caspian)’ on Monday. The third song, ‘voices in my head’, was released on Wednesday. Of these three pre-album releases, ‘surface’ is by far my favorite.

‘surface’ immediately opens with vocals from New Zealander Amelia Murray aka Fazerdaze, giving off protective vibes towards someone who may be drowning due to life stress or judgment from others:

Slow downYou’re racing aheadDrown outThe words that they saidWon’t youCome up for airWhen you surface I’ll be right here

The song then adds in some guitar riffs and Fazerdaze plugs in one more line before it transitions into a beautifully melodic instrumental chorus. My favorite thing about this part of the song is the atmospheric synths that seem to continue rising with no end, all-the-while the synths are backed by low-frequency bass kicks and snares. The song repeats the process for the second verse but also switches it up just a bit with a slowed down version of the chorus. This song also features instrumentals from the band Caspian. I don’t much about them, but judging by a quick skim through some of their songs, the instrumentals for ‘surface’ definitely have their signature all over it.

San Holo officially released his debut album today, and it’s called album1. I’ve had it on repeat all morning; it’s definitely worth a listen. Check out ‘surface’ below to get an idea of what the album is like:

Notaker – ‘The Storm’

American producer Notaker has released another track under the massive Monstercat label this week titled ‘The Storm’.

This track completely satisfies my 80’s nostalgia for the week with its ominous retro vibes. The track eventually throws in some glitchier mid-tempo synths which remind me of The Glitch Mob‘s signature sound. Overall, ‘The Storm’ really showcases Notaker’s ability to create a vibe for a song exactly how he intended it. I wish this track were longer or integrated into a larger body of work like an EP, an album, or maybe even a playlist that plays into the 80’s theme of ‘The Storm’. Listen to the track below:

Edison Cole – ‘Need You Now’

I had never heard of Edison Cole until this week, but he is definitely someone I will be following from here on out. ‘Need You Now’ is currently the only song posted on his Soundcloud, and it is something to behold.

The first thing I noticed about this song was actually the album art. It’s an edit of a scene from Blade Runner 2049 where a giant hologram of the Joi A.I. interacts with the main character. Blade Runner 2049 is currently one of my favorite movies, so I immediately felt that this song and artist would appeal to me in some way.

The song begins with female vocals that lead us into a build-up, and soon after, the tempo begins to rise and the vocals become high-pitched and ravey. The words, ’cause I need you now’ are repeated over and over again until — in traditional EDM fashion — the song finally drops into a crescendo of Future Bass synths that really get your body moving. These days it’s not very often that I hear a Future Bass-sounding track that I truly enjoy; the sound is pretty saturated at this point. But Edison Cole’s track is supremely unique in its design. It’s one of those songs that is somewhat unexpected and it’s sure to get some airtime in many DJ sets to come.

Listen to ‘Need You Now’ below and be sure to keep tabs on this artist:

NINTH CHILD – ‘A Way’

The celestial bass goddess Natalia Benson, a.k.a. NINTH CHILD has released another dreamy bass track this week titled ‘A Way’. With this one, Benson sticks to her signature formula using her own vocals to guide us through ambient Trap soundscapes, singing about having found someone who has shown her ‘the way’.

NINTH CHILD’s music always makes me feel like I’m in a dream, floating through space, witnessing supernovas that pulsate whenever a bass note hits. I personally think she’s hugely underrated. I have yet to see her show up on any tour flyers or festival lineups. Maybe this is her own choice. She does seem to DJ a lot in her hometown of L.A. though, it’s just unfortunate that I don’t live there to catch those shows.

Listen to ‘A Way’ below. If you enjoy it, I highly recommend listening to her EPLovers which is an excellent showcase of her style and persona.

Lil Peep & XXXTentacion – ‘Falling Down’

Just this Wednesday a new Lil Peep and XXXTentacion song was released posthumously onto Lil Peep’s YouTube channel. The song has drawn a bit of controversy due to some Lil Peep fans feeling that the recently deceased rapper wouldn’t have ever worked with XXXTentacion were he still alive, mainly because of their differing values. I wrote more extensively about the origins of this song in an earlier post.

Regardless of the controversy, I think that ‘Falling Down’ is catchy if you ignore the patchwork nature of it, which is almost unavoidable when you have people randomly jumping in on incomplete songs. The best part of the song, in my opinion, is Lil Peep’s hook featuring his usual punkish, melancholic vocals over a solid chord progression. If anything, it makes me excited to hear the collaborative album between him and IloveMakonnen — who also co-wrote ‘Falling Down’ — which will be released soon. Listen to ‘Falling Down’ below: